Rectifier system.



No. 897,544. y PATBNTED SEPT. 1, 190s.

` 0.0.KRUH.

RECTIFIER SYSTEM. urmonmn FILED lov. o, 1905.

Inventor: Osias O. Kruh, huw@ qtt'.

4. -oecur it is` necessar UNITED l STATES PATENT OFFICE.

o'srAs o. KEI-Jn, vor scHENEGTADY, NEW YORK, Assicaon To GENERAL,ELECTRIC-COMPANY,

A CORPORATION or NEW YORK.

nnc'rmmn SYSTEM Specification of Letters lPatent.

Patented sept. .1, 190s.

. Application mea Nqv'mte'f 9, 1904s;` vsemi No. asesor'.

cation.

resent invention relates to means for n rectifylng alternating-current, and more especially to a rectifier system for high voltage altemating-current.-

The rectifying devices v,used in the s -stein ,to which my invention relates are al of" a now knownin the art as mercury arc rectiiiers, and briefiy characterized, consist nach of an exhausted glass envelop or contailler havingelectrodes therein, of which one at least is usuall of mercury Duringtlie ,peration of suc rectifie'rs a unidirectional ow of current takes place between the Vmercury electrode-" and the other. electrode or od'es,lwhichlflow of current is conveyed are' and' isunidirectional in character.

. re "so1netimes exists atendency for that or electrodes which serves as the pn'tive'teminal o fthe arc discharge, to re- Yverse"'Inomeritaijily in function'so as toorm these'at of av reverse I low of current either to "3.; companion positive electrodeor Vto the'liqnidne'gative electrode. This tendencv beall themore marked at high vo tages is one of j the features'to be 'guar ed inthe recti ication of high voltage fijne-ting current. Inorder to overcome this-trouble. 1 connect a number, of rectiers -in''serie's with each other, and this Ifind renieves almost absolutely any chance for arcto take place, since 'for such arcing to simultaneously in a of the series connected lectiiiers, which is a condition almost forbidden by' the laws of chance. y

The features of. novelty which characterize invention I- have pointed out with particularity in `the appended claims. The invention itself',V however, will be better understood-'.by reference to the following description en in connection with the accompan rawngs, which represent one em it of my invent-ion.

The alternatingcurrent which'isto be recied is supplied rom the secondary d I constantfcurrent transformer.

'Ille winding is indicated at 2nd at Schenectady, county of `chenectady',-Sta:te'of Neiv-York,hai 7e invented certain-new and useful Improvements in Rectiiiersystems,` of which the following is a speci-..

that the arcing occur 'l container 14,

provided with electrodes.

the core at 3. The primary winding is partly counter-balanced-- by a weighted lever '4.

T he representation in the drawing is largely dlagrammatic'and it is to be understood that any suitalile'soul'ce of constant-current may beemployed. `Moreover, it is by no means vessentialfo'r practicing. my invention that. a source of constant-current should be emplo-yad', though I vhavefrepresented such Aa source in the drawin' because my invention is especiallyadapte to' the ,rectification of the high voltagegenerally derived from such a transformer, which voltage is ,generally utilized for supplying series arc light circuits.

Two sets-of rectifiers are useddor rectifying the current from the secondary 1, one set beingconnected inseries with the lead 5 extending from on'elterminal ot 'the secondary,

andthe other setinseries with the lead 6 extending from thefother terminal. The recti fiers in series with the lead- 5 are indicated at 7 and R, -while those. in series with the lead 6 are indicated`v at 9" and 10. The rectifier-s 7 and 8. are in series'wit'h each'other,.while the rectiiiers Q'and 1-'0` are similarly connected in'` series. Each set of rectiers finds a return circuit for its rectified current thl'ou hthe conductorV 11 connectedl to the `1nicdleor other intermediate point of 'thesecondary 1.

The translating devices, ordinarily arc lamps,

arev connected in. series with this return conductor as indicated at 12. f Each set of reeti- 'y fiersvrectifies one-half'wave of the 'alternatingcurrent', and suppresses the other half Wave. Both sets of rectiers together, however, rec-i tify both half Waves and thus supply the load circuit with an unbroken succession of'unidirectional waves of current. To Vsmooth and makeit as nearly' constant :1s-possible,`

- an inductance coil 13 may be placed in series therewith.

Referring to the rectifier 7, the saine-jill be seen to mainly of an envelop or d usually o glass,r higldv exan port tojrhich the numeral 14n is the condensing chamber for the surp nsmercury out the rectified Vcurrent in-.the load circuit vapor produced during o eration of the apparatus. The vaporizab e electrode or cat ode of mercury isl indicated at 15. The main anode is shown at' 16 and consists of a cylinder or plate of artificialgraphite or the like located in a zig-zagged. extension 17 of the rectier tube. An auxiliary electrode also of graphite-is indicated at 18 and the same is located in an extension 19 of the rectifier tube. A small starting electrode 20 of mercury is arranged near the cathode 15.

In connecting`the rectifier in circuit the lead 5 i1 connected-to the main anode 16. The 'cathode 15 is connected by a conductor which extends to the next rectifier 8 in the series. In circuit with this conductor an inductance coil 21-is located. A. lead 22, connected below this inductance'coil, extends to and is connected with the auxiliary electrode 18. A small storage battery 23, or any other suitable source of direct current, may temporarily beconnectedthrough a current limiting resistance, as bi1 the switch 24, between the cathode and t 20. Then thus connected a slight shaking or tilting of the rectifier tube will suffice to start an arc between these two mercury electrodes. The direction of current is chosen to make the electrode 15 the negative electrodc.

Let it be assumed that the starting arcs in bothof the rectifiers 7 and 8 are set into oper-- ation. Bothfrectifiers thereby become conductive for current pulsations of a direction to pass series through the twoA rectifiers from anode to cathode of each rectifier. l

These current pulsations induce electrometivevf'orces in the inductance coils such as 21. Therme-in Waves of current Astart from zero, rise to. a maximum and fall to zero, which operation is repeated every alternate half period. As the current falls from its maximum volume the voltage of the'inductance `coil `is in the -same 'direction as .the'current flow. This voltage sets up a current in the circuit provided by theanode 18 and thereby produces ana-rc between this anode andthe current flows in the supply main 5.

cathode 15,-which arc by the discharge of 'energy stored in the inductance coil bridges over the half wave period during which no The e starting electrode rectiier thus becomes 'self-sustaining and after once being set 4into operation by the startin arc from the'electrode 20, will continue t Ao crate independently of itsI starting arc. he starting arc, 'when the apparatus is once going, maybe cut out of circuit. 0f course, otblermethods of starting the rectifier may be employed if desired, since the particular manner of starting is not important so farfgas concerns the broad features of my invention. All of the rectifiers after being started 'up as above described, supply current to the return circuit 1 1, which current is smoothed out by the inductance'choil 13.

In each of the main supply leads 5- and 6 extending from` the transformer secondary, I have shown two rectiiiers as connected in series'with each other. Each of the recti- .ers has its main anode, as for exam le the za ged tube -to minimize any arcing tendency. Vhat I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is-

1. The combination of a source of alternating-current, main conductors extending therefrom, a return conductor also extending therefrom, and a plurality of vapor electric rectifying devicesin each of said main conductors. V

2. vThe combination of a source of alternating-current, main' conductors extending therefrom, a return conductor also extending therefrom', and a plurality of va or electric rectifiers in series in each of sai main conductorsf 3. The combination of a source ofalternating-current,`mains extending therefrom, and a plurality of rectiiiers in series in one at least of said-mains, each of said rectiiers having a cathode and a plurality of anodes. 1

4. The combination of a source of alternating-current, mains extending therefrom, and.

a' plurality of rectifiers -in series with one of said mains, each of said rectiiiers being selfexci-ti'ng.' l

In witness whereof, 'I have hereunto set my handl this Sth day of November, 1905- OSIAS 0. KRUH. Witnesses:

BENJAMIN B. HULL,

MARGARET E. WooLLEY. 

